Austin spot gets some love on Southern Living's list of best new restaurants

Austin spot gets love on Southern Living's best new restaurants list

A best new restaurant list singled out Launderette.
Photo by Melody Fury

One Austin spot made the list of best new restaurants in the South, compiled by Southern Living magazine: East Austin favorite Launderette.

The restaurant, which was nominated for CultureMap's Tastemakers restaurant of the year, was among five honored from Texas, including two in Houston — Foreign Correspondents and Helen Green Food and Wine — and two in Dallas — Rapscallion and The Theodore.

The author was Jennifer V. Cole, a writer and editor based in Birmingham, Alabama, who is the magazine's former deputy editor. Their introduction to the list says that she spent over two months eating her way across the South and that the list is "fully vetted."

Among the dishes tried at Launderette, the Edward Hopper-esque diner where the wait for a table can exceed an hour, were the mussels and crispy oysters. The blue crab with avocado and caper-mint vinaigrette on semolina bread from Easy Tiger Bake Shop "boldly reminds us why this whole toast trend became a thing." Now we know who to blame for the toast trend.

Overall, chef Rene Ortiz and pastry chef Laura Sawicki's small plates, Snacky Bits, and cult-favorite birthday cake ice cream sandwich make the restaurant "worthy of the early — and continued — hype."